Punchboard



, Feb 9 1943 o. L. cARTwRlGHT 2,310,574 PUNCHl BOARD Filed Feb. 11, 1941Fig. Z

Patented F eb. 9, 1943 TED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

The present invention is concerned with an improved punch board and moreparticularly with means for recording the number of punches" taken.

The conventional punch board comprises a plurality of apertures, each ofwhich has a portion sealed on to provide a pocket in which is located anindicia bearing member usually in the form of a numbered slip of paperrolled compactly.

A punching device is usually provided with the punch board to force outthe indicia bearing members from the pockets in which they are housed.These punch boards are quite commonly used for sales purposes and thecustomer pays Ior each such indicia bearing member which is punched out,the indicia on the member indieating whether the customer is entitled toreceive certain merchandise. These punch boards are usually placed onthe counter where they are freely accessible to persons in the place ofbusiness. As a result, it is often impossible for the attendant todetermine exactly how many punches have been taken. The customer isstrongly tempted under these circumstances to call attention only to thepunches which are of some value to him and to surreptitiously discardthe others.

An object of the present invention is to provide -means in connectionwith such a punch board for registering the number of punches taken byeach customer. Y

A further object of the invention is to provide such a registering meanswherein an individual record is provided for each player.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement inwhich the registering means is in the form of la paper strip.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement inwhich the paper strip is in the form of a roll rotatably supported on astand for supporting the punch board.

A still further object of the invention is to pro- 'vide such anarrangement in which the paper strip is fitted between two portions ofthe punch board so thatit is impossible to eject one ofthe indiciabearing members without vperforating the strip.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such anarrangement wherein the paper strip comprises numbered portions, therebeing one portion for. each player.

-Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the accompanyingspecification, claims, and drawing-of which j Figure l is a sideelevational view 'partly in section of my improved punch board andFigure 2 is a front elevational view of the punch board with a portionfolded back to more fully illustrate the cooperation of certain parts.

Referring to the drawing, the punch board corn prises two main portionsI 0 and Il, both composed of laminated brous material. The portion Illis the portion which contains the pockets for the indicia bearingmembers. The portion I0 is formed of four laminations of brous material,these laminations being designated by reference numerals I2, I3, I4, andI 5. The outer laminations I2 and I5 are of relatively hard brousmaterial for reasons to be explained later. The upper part of theportion IU has a plurality of similar apertures, three of which aredesignated by the reference numerals I6, I'I, and IB. Over the front ofthe upper part of portion Ill a strip of paper I9 is secured. 'I'hispaper covers the entire apertured area of the portion I9 of the punchboard, and constitutes a seal at the front ends of the apertures. Asimilar strip of paper 2| is provided at the back of the punch board iniront of lamination I 2 to close the rear of the apertures. By reason ofthe paper strip I9 and 2 I, the various apertures form pockets. In eachcf these pockets an indicia bearing member is initially housed. Theseindicia bearing members have been indicated by the reference numeral 24.The particular form of the indicia bearing member is of no importance asfar as the present invention is concerned although these members arecommonly in the form of a numbered strip which is rolled compactly.

The front portion II of the punch board is composed of two laminations28 and 29 which are rmly glued together. The portion I I is alsoprovided with a series of apertures being designated by the referencenumeral 3l. A foil strip 32 is interposed between laminations 29 and 28to form a barrier in the passages 3|. The per forations 3| are inalignment with the corresponding perforations in the portion I0 and, aswill be pointed out more fully hereafter, serve as entrance guides tothe pockets for the punch member.

The portions I0 and II are hingedly sealed together at one side by anysuitable means. For example, these members may be fastened by means ofany form of adhesive flexible tape. This hinged relation of portions I 0and II is most clearly seen in Figure 2 where the portion I I, is shownas folded away from portion I0. At the side. opposite. from the hinge,the two portions I0 and II are held together by one or more clips 35.These clips are preferably formed of wire bent to provide portions 36and 31 overlying the front of member II and the rear of member I0. Thisclip is normally frictionally held in place but can be readily removedwhen it is desired to fold apart members I and II.

At the bottom of portion I I, suitable indicia 38 can be provided foradvertising or instructive purposes. The particular nature of thematerial appearing at the bottom of this construction forms no part ofthis invention, however.

The punch board comprising portions I0 and II is supported by a stand49, which stand also forms a support for the registering means. Thisstand is formed of a continuous piece of wire which has two terminalportions 42 extending up into apertures in the punch board. From eachend, the wire thereupon is bent to form two feet 43 and is then bentupwardly to form a spindle portion 44 for the support of a paper roll45. Thereafter the wire is bent inwardly to provide a loop 46 projectingbeneath the punch board. The wire is then bent over to provide anotherportion 41 overlapping the front of the punch board. The wire isthereafter bent downwardly over the back of the punch board and isformed on the other side in exactly the same way. Thus the wire standprovides a firm support for the punch board and at the same timeprovides a spindle for rotatably supporting a paper roll 45.

The strip of paper 49 constituting the paper roll extends forwardly andup between portions I and II, terminating slightly above the punchboard. This paper strip, as best shown in Figure 2, is provided withnumbers or other indicia to designate certain portions thereof, as willbe more fully explained later. The upper end of po-rtion Il] of thepunch board is rounded over and terminates in a sharp edge i). Thissharp edge serves as a tearing edge for the paper strip.

The punch member is designated by the reference numeral 52. This punchcomprises a handle portion 53 and a shank portion 54. The shank portionis designed to extend through the apertures 3| and the pockets formed bythe apertures of which apertures I6, I1, and I9 are typical. Theoperation by which the punch member is forced through these apertures toeject the indicia bearing member is shown in connection with the pocketI8.

It will be obvious from the above that in order for the punch member 52to eject one of the indicia bearing members, it is necessary for thispunch member to perforate not only the foil strip 32 and the papersealing strips I9 and 2I, but also the paper strip 49. This is clearlyshown in connection with aperture IG from which the indicia bearingmember has been forced. Thus at the same time that one of these membersis ejected by the punch 52, the paper 49 is perforated. All that it isnecessary to do in determining how many punches the player has taken isto examine the paper strip 49 and determine how many perforations thereare in this strip. This is accomplished by withdrawing the strip untilthe next consecutive number appears and tearing olf the withdrawnportion by means of the cutting edge 50. The act of withdrawing theperforated portion automatically brings into position, an unperforatedportion for the new player.

Reference was previously made to the fact that the outer laminations I5and I2 are of relatively hard ber. The purpose of this is to insure abered consecutively and if firm backing for the sealing strips I9 and 2Ias the punch engages them in the process of electing one of the members24. By reasons of this firm backing, the punch will tend to cut throughthe paper strips I9 and 2| rather than tear them.

The sealing strips I9 and 2I are obviously provided for the purpose ofpreventing any examination of any of the indicia bearing members priorto its ejection in the intended manner. The foil seal 32 is intended asa means for indicating which apertures have been punched. If this sealwere not provided, in view of the fact that the paper strip 49 aftereach operation covers up the punched-out apertures in the rear portionIU, it would be impossible to tell which apertures had been punched.

The portions I0 and II are hinged together to permit access to the paperstrip 49 if the strip is accidently torn off in being withdrawn. Thishinged construction is also desirable in case the paper strip is removedfor any reason. In order to fold away portion II all that is necessaryto do is to remove the clip and withdraw the board upwardly out of thestand between the portions 4B and 41 thereof.

It will be readily seen that I have provided a highly ingenious means ofpreventing the surreptitious taking of punches with no intent to pay forthose which prove to be undesirable. With the present arrangement, it isimpossible to mutilate the paper strip to give a false recording. Theposition of the numbers on the paper strip indicates the position thepaper strip occupies and if these numbers are in the wrong position, itis an indication that the paper strip has been shifted during use. Bymerely retaining each strip, the attendant is in a position to determinewhether one of the portions of the strip has been surreptitiouslyremoved and discarded. This is possible because the portions of thestrip are numthe portion allegedly punched by the customer is higherthan the portion last punched, there is an indication that a portion hasbeen removed surreptitiously.

While I have shown the specific embodiment of the invention for purposesof illustration, it is to be understood that there are numerousmodications which can be made. For example, the paper strip 49 insteadof being fitted between two portions of the punch board, can be fittedimmediately beneath a conventional punch board, the strip being disposedso as to be in the path of any indicia bearing member ejected from thepockets. In general, it is to be understood that the scope of theinvention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pocketstherein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forcedout therefrom, a punching device for forcing said members out, and meansfor automatically registering the number of such members forced out byany player and providing an individual record for each player of suchnumber, said means comprising an element disposed adjacent said pocketsin the path of movement of the punching device.

2. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed-pocketstherein and indicia bearing members in 'said pockets adapted to beforced out therefrom, a readily perforable strip of a length many timesthe longest dimension of said board, and means for movably supportingsaid strip so that a portion thereof is adjacent said pockets and sothat it is necessary to perforate said portion of said strip each timeone of said members is forced out.

3. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pocketstherein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forcedout therefrom, and paper strip recording means comprising a plurality ofportions of paper each of a size adapted to cover the entire pocketedarea of said board, and means for removably holding each portionadjacent the pocketed portion of said board in a position Where it isnecessary to perforate said portion of paper each time one of saidmembers is forced out.

4. In combination, a punch board having a portion comprising a pluralityof pockets in each of which is an indicia bearing member and a portionoverlying said pocketed portion of said board and having a plurality ofapertures one aligned with each of said pockets, a punch for insertionthrough said apertures and pockets to force out said indicia bearingmembers, a strip of readily perforable material, means for slidablysupporting said strip for free movement between said apertured andpocketed portions of said board so that it is necessary for said punchto pass through said strip before entering one of said pockets, and sothat said strip may be readily withdrawn to permit the inspectionthereof.

5. In combination, a punch board having a portion comprising a pluralityof pockets in each of Which is an indicia bearing member and a portionoverlying said pocketed portion of said board and having a plurality ofapertures one aligned with each of said pockets, a punch for insertionthrough said apertures and pockets to force out said indicia bearingmembers, a strip of readily perforable material removably supportedbetween said apertured and pocketed portions of said board so that it isnecessary for said punch to pass through said strip before entering oneof said pockets, and means for hingedly securing said apertured andpocketed portions together.

6. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pocketstherein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forcedout therefrom, a stand for said punch board comprising a spindle, arolled strip of readily perforable material supported on said spindle,and means for supporting the terminal portion of said strip adjacentsaid pockets in such a manner that it is necessary to perforate saidportion of said strip each time one of said members is forced out.

7. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pocketstherein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forcedout therefrom, and paper strip recording means comprising a plurality ofconsecutively numbered portions of paper each of a size adapted to coverthe entire pocketed area of said board, and means for removably holdingeach portion adjacent the pocketed portion of said board in a positionWhere it is necessary to perforate said portion of paper each time oneof said members is forced out.

O. L. CARTWRIGHT.

